


Burning Blue

by wednesdaythunder



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Lance (Voltron)-centric, Lance plays the piano, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post Season 3, Slow Burn, Space Opera, like sloooooooooow burn, no wait it's important for the plot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-13
Updated: 2019-01-21
Packaged: 2019-03-30 20:06:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13959021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wednesdaythunder/pseuds/wednesdaythunder
Summary: He pressed down a button; it made a low, almost purring sound as one of the slots opened. He pressed down another tile close by, and together they made a rumble.“Lance, what are —” Keith made a move to go to the blue idiot before he completely fucked something up, but all the sudden there was a hand on his shoulder, and he found Coran by his side, with a smile on his face.“It’s quite alright,” he said, chipper as ever. “Let the boy have his fun.”“Are you serious?” Keith hissed at him. Coran was crazy! Lance was — pressing down another three notes in a calculated succession that sounded eerily familiar.The others who had also caught onto what Lance was doing, as well as the goddamn guard/guide that had been escorting them had all stopped and turned. They all watched Lance’s back as the rumble continued, and Lance played two cords, and Keith finally realised what he was hearing.It was thetheme songfrom Space Odyssey. FreakingSpace Odyssey. Lance was playing classical, iconic music about space, on a space piano in space. And he was doing it well.Alternatively: A Space Opera about piano playing paladins, kidnappings, love, and toppling evil empires in three acts.





	1. The Pianist

**Author's Note:**

> I wanna thank Luisa from the bottom of my heart for being an amazing friend and _watching_ Voltron right after I told her too - like who does that?? ~~she does, she's great, I love her~~ Thanks for beta-reading and coming up with all the musical jargon because I'm gonna be honest - I don't know shit about music, guys.
> 
> This takes place after season 3 of Voltron, so after the team has gotten "Shiro" back.
> 
> Honestly, I just had the idea "what if Lance could play the piano? In space?" and then it grew into this huge story and yeah... orz Here we are! Hope you like it :D

**ACT I: ANDANTE CON MOTO**

 

**Chapter 1: The Pianist**

When the Voltron team first had been contacted by the Usiiga Coalition about opening negotiations to join their cause, Keith had been kind of excited. After two solid months of looking for Lotor, he had grown overly restless when it came to any kind of progress. As far as any of them or their allies could tell, Lotor and his crew had been gone since their last run in, where they had been after the teludav. It all irked Keith to the core — like what the hell was that purple pleb up to? Personally, he just wished he could jump into Red — or Black (he was still getting used to her, to be honest) and go and look for Lotor himself. Or at least stage a minor expedition where he and some other of the Paladins went with him, just so he could have the semblance of progress.  

So yeah, talks about an alliance with some planet cluster sounded great to him — it was progress, and Keith was getting cabin fever like never before. He had even kind of looked forward to it. Once Voltron arrived, however, he wished he had just shot himself out into the vacuum of space while they were still in orbit.

As far as Keith understood it form Coran’s lecturing and Allura’s… steadily increased complaining… the Usiiga Cluster was actually a pretty complicated bunch of planets. Seven in total, with five different kinds of alien people; some shimmery lavender people that are all bald, called Peimads… or possibly Peimeddian, Keith wasn’t sure; the Rotuxans aka bird people; pink dudes that were all the size of Pidge called Biusians; huge lizards that were called Amirltars; and finally the Hynmes, which was a race of monotremes that walked on two legs and with extendable limbs, which was kind of freaky.

They had touched down on the… Peimeddian’s _— Peimad’s?_ primary planet, called Pei (of course), and it was actually quite beautiful. The planet itself looked blue and purple from above. Once they reached the ground, with Pei’s huge ocean, and large trees whose stems almost shimmered in grey and silver, bearing up lilac-like crowns. The house they had been led to, a parliament of sorts as Keith understood it, which also served as one of the headquarters for the coalition, was all made of dark, smooth stone, with glass placed in irregularly making the whole thing look more like an artful mountain top full of gems rather than a building. Inside, the interiors were made out of stone that ranged from glimmering black to pearl white in an orderly fashion, making up the decoration of the walls, floor and ceiling, and stood in stark contrast with the furniture and aliens themselves, who were all in a variety of different colours of clothing. The rooms were connected through multiple doors like a maze, rather than having corridors that linked them together, making it easy to get lost in there to the point that they needed a guide in order to find anything. But whatever marvel Keith had felt over the Pei…mad’s _?_ sense of style was quickly thrown to the wayside by his growing frustrations once negotiations had started.

It kicked off simple enough, with Allura taking the lead and trying to explain to the council of the different races exactly what Voltron was, what they were was trying to do, and asking for their assistance — plain and simple. Only, as soon as they were done, one of the Peimads spoke up, and started to poke holes in everything that Allura just had said, questioning the resources team Voltron had, and their success rate so far, as well as what protection they were willing to offer to their allies. This all quickly spiralled into rounds upon rounds of essentially arguing between Allura, Shiro, and the council. Keith  wasn’t allowed to say anything; Shiro and him had had _talks_ before they even reached the Kalmarite System about how Keith was to keep his goddamn mouth shut (Keith’s words, not Shiro’s). It was some consolation, however, to know that Lance had gotten a similar talk. Keith found himself gripping the armrest of his seat so hard that it actually left a dent in it once he removed his hand — all to keep himself from having an outburst and screaming that this was all stupid — they were all stupid — and he wanted to get back to the castle already. Go and find Lotor. Be a productive member of society. _Something, anything other than this._

Only that did not seemed to be a choice, and the negotiations had been going on for a week now.

Part of why it was going so badly, Keith had repeatedly heard Allura say, was because they really didn’t know all that much about the planets in the Usiiga Cluster, or their culture and customs. And while this had been the case a lot of the times when they had liberated different planets from the Galra, it was one thing to free a planet from oppression and a whole other thing to negotiate with one about preventing it. The Peimads in particular kept coming up with the most weird-ass demands that Voltron wouldn’t be able to meet, and Keith was pretty sure that the whole council was aware of the fact. Yet, when Allura had called them out on it, one diplomat in particular  acted so offended that she basically derailed the rest of the meeting — like it seemed she was trying to do all along. Whereas  Keith could recognise a certain willingness to sit down and have civil conversation from the pink skinned aliens and the platypus people (though they looked more like anteaters now that he was thinking about it), they all followed the Peimads lead, not willing to go against their neighbours, it seemed. Also, the bird aliens were also super suspicious of them, with only fuelled the Peimeddian’s fire of fucking the negotiations over.

Right now, they were walking back to the castle, thankfully, and Keith was currently debating the virtues of threatening to leave them at the mercy of the Galra on principle (even though the cluster of planets had managed to stay Galra free by themselves thus far) and in the worst case scenario just take Black and leave. It sounded dumb even to Keith, but dang it, he was growing super impatient with this stalemate.

They were being led by one of the guards through some kind of living room of sorts, with couches spread out all around and shelves with… stuff on them, when Keith, just because he was curious about this particular room he looked around only to find that Lance had broken off from the group — where the hell was he?!

Keith scouted the area. He had been walking last, but too engrossed in his own thoughts, so he hadn’t noticed Lance breaking off until just now, and neither had anyone else it seemed. As he turned his head, he found Lance standing in front of a huge, funky looking kind of machine, that was stowed in the corners of the room. It had a dashboard made of the kind of holographic buttons that they had all become used to, but apart from that, it looked otherworldly. Pipes were coming out of the box where the dashboard rested, in pink and purple colours; it had what looked like slots, some open, some closed, all over the box as well as some of the bigger pipes, all of them shimmering iridescent from the palace’s electric ceiling lights. It looked like someone had taken an organ, scrambled it in a mixer with strawberry juice, and scotch taped it back together again. And Lance was currently messing with it.

He pressed down a button; it made a low, almost purring sound as one of the slots opened. He pressed down another tile close by, and together they made a rumble.

“Lance, what are —” Keith made a move to go to the blue idiot before he completely fucked something up, but all the sudden there was a hand on his shoulder, and he found Coran by his side, with a smile on his face.

“It’s quite alright,” he said, chipper as ever. “Let the boy have his fun.”

“ _Are you serious?_ ” Keith hissed at him. Coran was crazy! Lance was — [pressing down another three notes in a calculated succession that sounded eerily familiar.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7E3u4ABksco)

The others who had also caught onto what Lance was doing, as well as the goddamn guard/guide that had been escorting them had all stopped and turned. They all watched Lance’s back as the rumble continued, and Lance played two cords, and Keith finally realised what he was hearing.

It was _the theme song_ from Space Odyssey. Freaking _Space Odyssey_. Lance was playing classical, iconic music about space, on a space piano in _space._ And he was doing it _well_. 

As Lance played the slow-paced build up to what Keith knew was an epic crescendo, Keith could do nothing but gape at him. Though his back was turned, Keith could still sense the smile that was undoubtedly playing across Lance’s face as his hands flew up into the air after pressing down a high key, before finally, the chorus came, and though no drums or horns were heard, the same feeling of marvel that the theme of Space Odyssey ran through Keith in a rush. The nostalgia of staring up into the sky to marvel at the stars; the rush of travelling through them at the speed of light; the thrill as new worlds unfolded right before his eyes — it filled him up and he had to clench his fist to ground himself, because it felt as if though the ground would open up and swallow him whole. All he could see was Lance, all he could hear was music, and all he was in that moment was a spec of stardust, travelling through the universe.

As the song panned out in the dull rumple of the bass, Keith started to recover, but Pidge was onto Lance before Keith himself had even been able to form words inside his head.

“Of all the songs to play and you go with Space Odyssey?!” they exclaimed as they were running up to Lance and punched him in the shoulder.

“First of all, the song is called Also sprach Zarathustra you little heathen —” wait what, “— and secondly it was super appropriate and the laws of the multiverse can’t convince me otherwise,” said Lance with his usual cocky attitude. The contrast between the sobering experience he had just had and, well, _Lance_ , was seriously throwing Keith off — it felt like they were seconds away from Sven opening another ventilation shaft and shouting ‘yoo-hoo’ at them.

“I have to agree with Lance about the song choice,” Hunk butted in, but quickly followed it up with: “But _dude_. Since when did you know how to play alien pianos?!”

“Err…” was Lance’s oh so brilliant reply as he blushed and ducked his head.

“Are you a connaisseur of the art of the Peian Clavicytheriun?” came another voice from the door they had entered and low and behold, the alien diplomat that had been a pain in their butt came barging through the doors, her eyes pinned on Lance.

“Eh, I’ve never actually played a … what you said, until just now,” Lance admitted.

But — I heard you through the halls!” the alien gasped, perplexed. “Do not lie to me, you have obviously mastered the Peian Clavicytherium.”

“No, I’m not lying, but, eh, it reminded me of an instrument from my home, and when I tried it out it was kinda the same so I thought ‘what the hell, I’m not gonna pass up a chance like this!’ because I gotta tell you, it’s so cool to be able to discover new kinds of instruments and I mean even though it’s a little different — I noticed that you guys have a scale made out of seventeen tones instead of eights, which is the standard where I come from, so I had to rearrange the song in my head a little to get it right but it totally worked! I hope it was okay for me to play — I got so excited, I’m so sorry if I overstepped, I —”

“Oh no!” the alien lady interrupted Lance’s ramble, “I would never step between a master and their music — it is a sacred knowledge for our peoples, but one maybe overlooked as more pressing political matters have arisen the last couple of deca-phoebs. But to think that a paladin of Voltron possess such a mastery  — please,” she said, her voice filled with almost piety — a stark contrast from the drawl that had come out of her face for hours at end earlier. “Can’t you maybe show some more? My mother’s mother was too a master, but after she was lost to the war I have not heard such melodies for a long time.”

It felt like some kind of trap, like she wanted to test if Lance was a fluke, and Keith felt like he should step in between them before Lance made a complete and utter fool of himself, _as well as_ ruining their chances in the negotiations.

“Sure!” the idiot said, smiling brightly, but his gaze was travelling the room, before his eyes met Keith’s. Then the smile became a smirk. “I’ll play you the song of the Red Paladin’s people,” he said, turning back the alien lady.

“Oh?” was all that she got to say in reply before Lance had turned back to the alien instrument and pressed down the [_goddamn G note_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuwMel4SX0U)[.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuwMel4SX0U)

Pidge started to laugh their ass off as Lance played the first keys to Welcome To The Black Parade, _that fucker_ , and Keith could hear both Hunk and Shiro trying to muffle their giggles to varying degrees of success, as Allura tried asking why the paladins were laughing as Coran shushed her. Keith hated every single one of them.

The thing that became all too clear as Lance progressed through the song (with a scary kind of accuracy for it being the first time he played this space piano, like what? _How???_ ) was that the space piano rendition of The Black Parade that replaced Gerard Way’s voice with the much softer, clearer notes of its multitude of tubes rendered the song much more elegant than Keith had ever thought possible. The melodies he considered powerful and nostalgically cringey sounded almost like a fine piece of music, through Lance did not slow the song down at all to match, but rather kept it at the original pace, never losing the bare intensity that Keith associated with the song.

Keith felt himself blushing. He knew he was being made fun of; though the laughter of the others had died down it almost made it all worse because, well, the piece that Lance had dedicated to him sounded beautiful… And for something like that come from Lance, even as a joke, felt like a backhanded compliment. Maybe a flirt even, though for all Keith knew, Lance saw him like a teammate and maybe a tentative friend, but only because of how they had been shoved together by the universe, and only because of how going through what they had would only make them either friends or mortal enemies. Besides, even though Lance and Keith argued a lot, at least they had both silently agreed fight together, rather than against each other.

Still, the realisation that Lance had a hidden depth to him hit Keith like a laser to the gut. One would think that Lance knowing how to play would have come up waaay sooner as he would try to use it to flirt with girls, but instead it was Coran who had acted like he knew, and not Hunk or Allura, who would otherwise seem like the first two to have been exposed to it. But Lance didn’t have the flirty, cocky attitude that he wore when he was being ridiculous, and neither was he radiating the waves of joy like he did when he was flying his lion. No, it was far softer than that, like he was in some kind of other world where no one could reach him, like was dreaming himself away through the movement of his fingers across the keys. It was a side of Lance that Keith had never thought could exist yet it made perfect sense. It wasn’t quiet, wasn’t even serious, but instead so unabashedly sincere that it almost felt like a violation of privacy to see him like this.

Yet Lance had exposed it readily as soon as he had noticed the space piano, and for that Keith could do nothing but to stare in wonder, because he realised that this might just be something he would only see, hear, _experience_ once, and for whatever reason Keith was not about to throw away such an opportune gift. Even if it was joke at his expense.

As Lance reached the end of the song in what could only be called a tender finish, Keith saw Hunk uproot himself and walk up to Lance, giving him a massive hug. He murmured something to Lance, too soft for even the alien diplomat to hear, but Lance just shook his head and said a soft “Later,” in reply, though it seemed to be enough for Hunk.

“I must say,” the alien lady spoke in a clear and steady voice, “I believe I have misjudged you and yours.” This really caused them all to freeze in place, but the diplomat ploughed on. “It was of my impression that an alliance with Voltron would be the end of our freedom. We Peimeds are calculated people, yet you operate through rash actions, and I thought that it would unravel the structure that kept us safe of deca-phoebs, and the cost of the alliance and what you would have us do would be too great. But I see now that you are a species of multitudes just like ours, and though I thought I was making an accurate judgement based on Voltron’s previous actions, it is apparent to me now that that was an error on my part, for you have not been able to display all of the skill which your team carries. Perhaps since there has been a lack of… instruments at your disposal,” she said, eyes darting to the space piano, meaningfully. “I must apologise, I have been keeping you for quite some time; you must be tired and famished from today.” She took a step back, looking at them all as she said it, before turning to Lance again. “But, if I may, it would give great pleasure if we could possibly continue this conversation of Peian Clavicytherium , for I must admit that you have awoken my curiosity and it would be my delight to learn more of your species’ form of music.”

“That would be amazing — I really want to hear about your people’s music too!” Lance gave her a bright smile, and though he definitely had an in to be the ridiculous flirt Keith had expected, Lance seemed almost like Pidge, thirsting for knowledge rather than pretty girls. “I — er, would tomorrow after the negotiations work for you? I mean, hoping they don’t drag on for as long as they did today,” he added clumsily, but the alien lady laughed of all things.

“I should think not, I am aware of the trouble I have caused for this council,” she said with smile of her own, which transformed her whole face, making her look (we’re screwed) conventionally attractive.

“Oh, I wasn’t trying to —” Lance started, but she waved him off.

“No matter, no matter,” she said. “I see now that you and yours are eerily genuine; I will make arrangements for tomorrow. Until then.” She took a bow, which Lance and the others hastily mirrored, and then she was gone.

“Who the hell thought that _Lance_ would dig us out of this one…” Pidge wondered out loud as soon as she was gone.

“And with a space piano. Playing _My Chemical Romance!_ ” Hunk continued in rising agitation. “How did you even know that song!?” he asked.

“Please, dude, is one of the most iconic songs of our generation, and besides I wasn’t gonna play Shakira to that lady,” Lance deadpanned like it was obvious. It was not obvious.

“Regardless of how, it can be discussed over dinner,” Allura said soberly, and like that the strange moment they were in was broken as Lance stepped away from the space piano with Hunk and Pidge in toe.

“I’m so freaking hungry I could eat a cow!” Lance complained.

“You are _not_ eating Kaltenecker!” Pidge screeched and then the three of them were off, Lance arguing that of course he wouldn’t, Pidge coming up with strange scenarios where he might be forced to, all while Hunk was theorising about their odds to either breed or clone the goddamn cow so they could eat _that_. It was truly a conversation Keith wouldn’t want to get near, or even poke with a space stick.

A huge part of Keith wanted to put Lance in a corner and ask how he learned to play so well. Why he would hide it? Why he would reveal it now? But it wasn’t the time or place, and besides, if the others weren’t tearing Lance apart because of his hidden talent that only Coran seemed to know about, then Keith wouldn’t either. Regardless of how simple and open Lance seemed, Keith was beginning to realise that it was really stupid to assume that that was all that was too him, and just like everyone else, Lance too had secrets and reasons for keeping them.

* * *

“So how did your meeting go?” Allura all but cornered Lance when he walked into the common area the team had been provided after his dinner with Izapi the day after. She was anxious because although the negotiations had indeed gone a lot smoother today, thanks to Izapi stepping down as their main opponent — but in her place a few of the other diplomats had stepped up to argue. Really, Allura felt like pulling her hair out — this alien species were not the kind that she was used to dealing with. But they needed them in the war to come since their planet cluster had most of the rebel forces tucked away, hidden from not only Galra but Voltron too. She could understand why the Peimad were reluctant to let them in and meet with the forces — indeed it had been their reluctance that kept their forces strong and out of galran hands. But how could they not see that Voltron was the thing that they had been waiting for? Sometimes it seemed like some did, but the moment Allura thought she had found a solid ally or argument to convince them, one rattled the cage and suddenly they were back at the start and she needed to convince them all over again. She was truly going mad with frustration, and had she not had to reach back and stop Keith from shouting at least three times before, she was sure that she would have actually lost he composure herself.

“It was awesome!” Lance replied with much enthusiasm. “Did you know that like, 100 years ago they had entire orchestras — or well they call them blarzhpits but it’s basically orchestras — and according to their ancient traditions they had different songs that they would perform each day as rituals to ask for like prosperity and stuff? Like it was so cool; Izapi showed me some recordings and like I was so blown away by the complexity of their harmonic structures. And don’t get me started about the timbre of their instruments! It’s amazing! Honestly it is so nice to finally find another species that use music similar to humans — like I thought there’d be more with how auditory responses work and like how you can simply set the mood and inspire so much through music — like it’s really easy to use for your gain. I mean freaking marching songs for example! And work songs and rowing songs and all the musical pieces to help with rhythm and coordination! Not to mention propaganda or advertisement… But I guess that’s space for you,” he finished off with a shrug.

“I will be honest and admit that most of what you just said went over my head,” she said, as she looked at the others, trying to see if she was the only one. It appeared as if not.

“I mean I get what you’re saying about music being a good motivator, man,” Hunk butted in. “But I haven’t really thought about it that much — I mean I like to work in quiet most of the time because a lot of the time I needa pay attention with all my senses — like my ears too — and then I can’t be putting on my jam because as much as I love my tunes they’d just distract me.”

“You know there is music specifically designed to keep you focused, right? Like most of the background music to games, especially MMORPGs where when you’re like just off questing and walking there’s usually a steady melody to keep you focused, and that’s not even going into the music that you get when you meet the bosses, which is all there to make you pumped and ready to fight,” Lance pointed out and though Allura could only follow about half of it, both Pidge and Hunk nodded like they were taking mental notes, learning from Lance.

“Did you only talk about music?” Allura pressed on.

“I mean kinda? Izapi gave me a crash course in Peimeddian culture so I could better understand her relation to music and what it was used for — and also a bit of history about the evolution of instruments and stuff. Like it’s actually really heartbreaking how most of the knowledge they had is not only stored in a few recordings because the Peimeds believe in live music, but since most musicians died in the wars…” Lance shrugged. “But I tried to tell her about Earth and how we do it there and she seemed really interested. She’s really fun to talk to once she lets her guard down.”

Right then, an idea hit Allura. Perhaps she had been taking the wrong approach all along when it came to the negotiations. “Lance, I think you should represent Voltron in the meetings from now on,” she declared and Lance looked back at her, absolutely shell-shocked.

“What?!” both he and all the other paladins exclaimed in various tones and voices — which Lance quickly latched onto.

“Oh thanks for the vote of confidence, guys,” he snapped at no one in particular, but thankfully Coran stepped in before someone started a fight. Allura’s eyes landed on Keith, where he sat in the corner of the couch, and she noted that he seemed more confused than annoyed by her proposition.

“Quite right, princess,” Coran came around and patted Lance on the shoulder. “It’s been more than a movement already and so far only you have managed to secure an ally.”

“But that was just through messing around and getting caught.” It seemed that if no one was going to argue against this, then Lance was going to do it himself. Allura thought it kind of odd; she would have thought that he’d rejoice and start making plans right away, all while rubbing it in Keith’s face or something, yet Lance first genuine reaction was to question his own capabilities for the task.

“It doesn’t matter how you caught her interest, that you managed to maintain it and cultivate it is what makes me think that this is a good choice,” Allura told him in all honesty. “I have been talking in circles to the Peimed for days, yet you make a connection within one conversation.”

“I guess…” he murmured, looking down at his feet.

“Allura’s right,” Keith suddenly said, standing up like he was about to fight Lance, not pep-talk him. Yet Lance’s eyes were glued on him and Allura just knew that the next thing Keith said would either make or break this. Lance wouldn’t listen to Allura, Coran or Shiro — but he would listen to Keith. “You,” Keith paused, collected himself, and tried again, “you’re easy to talk to. Approachable. When you’re not trying to flirt with everything. Then it’s…” he paused like he was searching for the first words. “Then you just sweep people up with your enthusiasm, Lance. It’s contagious. So yeah, I agree with Allura,” Keith finished off in a great anticlimactic fashion, and it dawned on Allura that Keith did not actually realise what influence he had over Lance. But she saw how Lance’s eyes had gone wide and in his head, he was analysing every inch of the speech Keith gave him. His shoulders slumped as he looked down on the floor.

“Yeah, I have to agree, dude,” Hunk spoke up. If it was because he just felt like speaking his mind or because he too saw what Allura did, she was not able to tell. Maybe he too understood that  this was important not simply for their mission but for Lance himself. “I mean, even though I kinda hated you at times, my time at the Garrison would have been a disaster if we hadn’t hit off. And we only did because you insisted on it. Just like you insisted on becoming friends with Pidge — you know right before Shiro crashed into the desert and we rode off in a robotic lion on an epic space adventure. Or… another space odyssey, you might say,” Hunk chuckled at his own joke.

“You’re saying I force people to become friends with me?” Lance asked, ever doubtful.

“He’s saying that you make it very hard not to like you,” Pidge butted in.

“Aw, Pidge, you like me?” Lance teased, but it looked like he was starting to accept the others opinions of him as truthful.

“When you’re not being an insufferable dork, then yeah, I like you,” Pidge said, crossing their arms.

“Let me hug you, nerd!” Lance shouted and all but launched himself across the room at Pidge, tackling them off the couch in a hug. “I like you too, gremlin! I like everyone in this room.”

“Well that’s good, otherwise this would have been super awkward,” Hunk laughed over Pidge’s rather overdramatic shrieks of: “Let me go, ‘ya legs and dairy Latino man!”

“Did you just make a drag race reference?” Lance shouted back — and then louder: “Did you steal Jujubee’s read of Raven? You think I’m Raven, Pidge?! Does that make you Jujubee? I need to know!” He all but shook Pidge who was all but helpless to his jostle until Hunk tried to stop him.

“Look what you did, Pidge. You’ve awakened him,” Hunk said in a tone that seemed far too serious for the nonsensical topic of conversation Allura was listening into.

“I saw a gif of it once, goddammit Lance I don’t know who said it!” Pidge yelled back, but they were also giggling.

“Why don’t we have Netflix, Pidge? I need to show you this amazing world! I need to introduce you to my national hero Bianca del Rio! Her overly eye-lashed face _gives me life_!”

“Wait what?” Keith piped up from where he had sat down, just within arm’s length of what was quickly turning into a Lance-Pidge-and-Hunk-pile. “How can someone have too many eyelashes? Don’t they grow just normally?”

“Oh my God, Keith, it’s fake eyelashes that you glue onto your face,” Lance drawled.

“Why would you put glue close to your eyes? What if you glued them shut?”

“Practise makes perfect. Like RuPaul. That man is perfection.”

“Who’s RuPaul?”

“ _Oh my God, Keith,_ Pidge you need to get us some freaking Netflix!”

“What, so you and Keith can Netflix and chill? ” said Pidge which made Lance’s face go red for some reason and he sputtered.

“Get your mind out of the gutter and also how dare you think for a second that I won’t make you watch it with us!”

“It really has its moments,” Hunk nodded in agreement. “Though a lot of the time I think there’s too much unnecessary drama.”

“You could say that they’re being _drama queens,_ eeeey!” Lance looked way to proud of himself.

Allura sighed and turned to look at Shiro. She was quite certain that Lance would do as she asked and take over the negotiations from now, if the way he was joking around with the other four paladins were any indicator, but Shiro had been strangely quiet about the whole ordeal. Right now, he was looking at the four teens that were talking over each other about ‘netflix shows’ whatever that was and apparently Keith was a ‘culturally obtuse hermit’ but it all seemed like jokes in good fun. Yet Shiro had a strange look in his eyes that Allura could not decipher.

“To get back to the question at hand,” he said finally, and all at once, all four paladins tensed and turned to him. “I think it would be best if _both_ Lance and Allura take over negotiations together.”

“But I have tried,” Allura started to say, but Shiro just shook his head and cut her off.

“You still know more about official dealings and you have a greater knowledge of we need from this alliance,” he said. All valid points, now that Allura thought about it.

“Maybe it could _just_ be them though?” Keith suggested. “I mean if Lance’s music talk is anything to go by, it seems like the Peimads value private discussions over public ones.”

“I mean, Izapi did say that she’d like to meet again…” Lance admitted. “And I mean, she could probably tell me more about their culture.”

“Then you’ll be our inside man and Allura will back you up so you don’t make deals you can’t keep.” Keith shrugged, looking casual, but after Lance gave him a small smile of confirmation, he looked at Shiro, like he was almost daring the man to go against him.

“I second this,” Allura said, summoning her inner royal grace, as her father sometimes put it when he was trying to make something happen. She thought this was a good solution, and she would not have any of the others go against it — especially now that Lance seemed convinced. In fact, it was only Shiro who still looked uncertain. “Lance, you, Coran and I will talk strategy tomorrow, but for now I think we should all go to bed.” Distinct, decisive, but not demeaning, as her father used to say.


	2. The Diplomat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously on _Burning Blue_ : After many failed negotiation attempts, Lance manages to break through to a Peimeddian diplomat by playing the piano of all things, much to the team’s collective astonishment. It is decided that he and Allura will be the ones leading the negotiations from now on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you thank you thank you to Luisa and Emi who've helped me out with this chapter! <3

**Chapter 2: The Diplomat**

The next day, Lance was possibly bursting with excitement when he sat down with her and Coran to plan. Allura could see clear as day that Lance had spent a significant part of his night plotting for himself, especially when he laid out the details of his proposal.

“I get the feeling that presentation is actually really important to the Peimeddians — like just look at how they dress! It’s really stylish and always on point, but also rather casual? And I mean, not like I’m not the icon of fashion and skincare over here, but I think it would actually do us a bit good if we dressed to match. And not in armour, that seems too official and war-timey. Even though its war times. But yeah,” he finished off with a shrug.

“Are you asking to borrow some Altean clothes?” Coran said.

“I guess I am, my man,” Lance said with a smile.

“Oh, this will be grand!” Coran exclaimed, Lance’s excitement clearly affecting him. “I believe I have some things myself beside the standard uniform! Why —” In all honestly Allura tuned most of it out. She knew that Coran cared a lot for appearance, and as did Lance, so it was only smart to leave it to them and simply do as they asked — as long as it was within reason, of course — and let them get it out of their system. Which they did. After about a varga, it appeared that Lance and Coran had settled on a ‘visual concept’ by hunching over Coran’s visual library on his tablet, coupled with a lot, and Allura meant _a lot_ of descriptions of colour schemes. By the Lions, she was not able to withhold the sigh of relief that came when Coran left the room to and assemble some ‘example outfits’ and then send photos back to Lance.

“And make sure that you get good lighting, otherwise I won’t see the colours correctly!” Lance shouted at Coran, who ran through the door like a man on a mission. Or, well, he had a mission. To take photos of clothes was the mission. It wasn’t perhaps the most noble of activities, though Lance and Coran certainly seemed to act like it was.

“Well,” she said, but then nothing more. To be perfectly frank, Allura did not really know where to start, now that Coran was gone. She knew that Lance knew what their goal with the negotiations were — at least in broad strokes. But when it came down to the nitty gritty she was not sure what he needed to reacquaint himself with. At the same time, now Lance was looking at her, expecting her to continue and lead this. Which she should. She was a Princess, and had been raised to lead. Yet at this very moment, she had no clue how to get to her goal.

“You know, the Peimeds keep calling me the Blue Paladin,” Lance said after another moment of silence. This was not at all what Allura had expected. “Even though they know you pilot Blue. I hope you’re not offended. Maybe we could get new armour? Only, that would be two new sets because Keith would need to change his too. And it be such a waste of resources — but maybe we can paint them? Though, your symbolism for pink is really nice and I doubt you’d wanna change that, but —” He was rambling. About colours. Again. She needed him to stop.

“I don’t mind,” she said, and blessedly Lance fell silent. “I can be the Pink Paladin. What is most important to me is that we have Voltron, and that I get to do my part. I felt so… helpless at times. Making you go into battles, my battles, while I was safe in the castle.”

“The castle was also under attack and has provided a lot of support most of the times we’ve fought, though, so it’s not like you’re twiddling thumbs when you were in here,” Lance pointed out kindly. “I guess it’s just, I didn’t want to take a title that’s yours, or something like that.”

It felt like such an odd thing to hear, and Allura did not fully comprehend what Lance was actually getting at — as if though there were another layer to the conversation which she was not able to hear. Before she could examine it any further, however, Lance visibly shook himself, and then smiled at her which only served to remind her that he had looked rather sad just a moment before.

“But enough colour theory! So about these negotiations — I think it would be maybe a good start to kick it off with Izapi and just, you know, _ask what she thinks_. Try’na get the Peimeddian rundown of what they think about Voltron and stuff. Because, I mean, they’ve all said stuff over the table before, but sometimes the general consensus seems to shift just to prove a point? Or maybe it’s just me?”

“No, I agree. Their demands have been… contradictory at times.”

“Right. So. I think Izapi would be cool if approach her casually, but, like, I don’t think she’d appreciate us being sneaky, and say like if I go to another dinner with her but bring you with me without saying anything. Then she’d feel like she’s in a trap or something. I think being up front would be the best approach.”

“It certainly will be easier,” Allura agreed. “So you can request an audience, but tell right away that it will be both you and I, perhaps?”

“Yeah, I think so. I mean, we have another session with them today, so I could maybe try pulling her aside either before or after and ask?” he suggested.

“I believe that could work.” Allura nodded. Finally they were getting somewhere.

* * *

She didn’t really know how Lance did it, but between him and Coran picking outfits, and another draining negotiation session, Lance managed to convince Izapi to have a private audience with the two of them.

Allura was wearing one of her dresses — another blue one, Lance had insisted — and with her hair out. It was rather Lance who looked different, in clothes which she wasn’t sure if they belonged to Coran or her father originally, but nevertheless it clad him well.

“You look very dashing in uniform,” she told him, because he did. It was a traditional Altean guard jacket he was wearing, with matching boots and trousers in the traditional blue colour scheme, with small details on gold and pink. It make him look slim yet strong in a way that his armour and casual clothes respectively did not.

“Oh, thanks,” he replied, flushing at the compliment and rubbing his neck. “It kinda reminds me of the uniforms we wore at the Garrison.”

“Your space school, yes?”

“Yeah. It was a boarding school in the middle of the desert — and a military school at that too.”

“I must confess I find it hard that the you I met when you first to the castle would do very well in a strict military setting,” she said, but immediately regretted it when Lance’s bashful face suddenly turned sour. Though he hid it from one moment to the next, she had still seen it. Allura was seeing a lot of subtle things in Lance’s face once she started actually looking. It made her all the more annoyed with herself; but before she could reprimand her misspoke, Lance moved on, with a little laugh.

“Yeah, it was not without its struggles, and the uniforms were orange and awful too, to be perfectly honest.”

“Still, it’s quite impressive that you were already studying to become a pilot and soldier,” she tried, but he rebutted her right away.

“Not really — the only reason I was there was because Keith got kicked out of the program and I got to take his spot, and I always flunked the flight simulations anyway and never got to actually fly before I flew Blue.” Suddenly his sadness over the Blue Lion made a whole lot more sense to Allura, but they were arriving at their destination, and she couldn’t really talk to him about this — and she had no idea how to console him, regardless, which only made Allura all the more frustrated. For one flash in time, she felt angry over how the Blue Lion would do so — and while she understood how she would not be able to fly Black, she did not get why she couldn’t at least have taken Red, instead of Lance. _Because you cannot be Keith’s right hand_ , she told herself, which, albeit true, but still… Nevertheless, she literally did not have time to think of this now, since they had reached Izapi’s personal office, where the meeting would take place.

Lance knocked on the door once before waiting for confirmation before opening it.

“Wazzup, Izapi?” he said casually as he swung the door open — a clear clash to his professional get up. Lady Izapi seemed rather confused as well.

“I’m sorry, can you repeat that?” she asked from the other side of her desk, as she rose to greet them. The room was not large by any means, but it comfortably housed both her desk space, and a couch and armchair as well as a little table, where some kind of drink seemed to be already set out and ready to be poured and offered.

“I asked what’s up,” Lance explained.

“Oh, well, the ceiling?” she suggested as she stepped around the desk, throwing a single look at Allura as if she was looking to find a clue with her, before looking back at Lance.

“I’m sorry,” Lance said, shaking his head and while bringing a hand up towards it. “I guess the phrase isn’t universal — it’s an earth thing. A way of greeting,” he explained, straightening up and looking back at her, smiling once more. “I was asking how you are doing.”

“I see. Well, I’m doing just fine,” she told him. “Have a seat,” she then offered, gesturing towards the couch, while she moved to the armchair. After settling down, she offered them both a warm, green brewed, that smelled faintly of herbs.

“This reminds me of the matcha tea we have back home!” Lance exclaimed with excitement, sniffing it. “Smells like it too. Girl, you gotta tell me what it is.”

“We call it bellimi. It’s a combination of algae that are dry frozen and then ground into a paste, which we mix with the nectar of the Esum tree and warm water. It’s traditionally drunk in the mornings, but I thought you might be interested to try,” she explained in an almost fond tone really, not even acknowledging Allura past handing her a cup.

“That’s cool. How do you freeze dry the algae exactly?” Lance asked, obviously curious, and potentially also so he could relay it to Hunk later, who would actually appreciate the knowledge Allura realised now that she thought about it, and as Izapi rather excitedly explained the process by which the drink they had had been produced.

Allura carefully took a sip of the drink when she thought it wouldn’t burn her tongue, and to the great surprise of the taste, she couldn’t contain the little sound of excitement that escaped her. Lady Izapi instantly stopped talking and looked at her carefully, and ice dropped down Allura’s stomach because she knew that look. She was being judged and the next thing she did would either make or break this meeting. But Lance was right there beside her, gently laying a hand on her leg.

“You okay, ‘Llura?” he asked kindly, and like he had ever called her that before. It was part of his act, she realised. That by overextending his friendship to her in front of Izapi, he was showing rather than telling that Allura was someone _he_ was close to, he was making an argument for Izapi to give Allura a chance.

“I’m sorry for the interruption,” she said, “but it’s just that this drink has an uncanny resemblance to a drink we had back at Altea. It was made from the dried leaves of the juniberry, which we let ferment in water for about a month, before serving. It just took me back, that’s all…” she confessed. The drink had been her mother’s favourite, she recalled, but she managed to hold that titbit back. Talking of one’s dead family _as well_ as extinct planet may be a bit too far.

“It seems like you may have found a universal constant, Lance,” Izapi noted. “I will provide with the supplies and instructions so you can make the drink yourself once you take your leave. bellimi is meant to be shared, after all,” she added, and Allura noted how her face had relaxed a little, and it wasn’t as guarded as before. And she also looked at her and not just Lance as she spoke.

“Will you?” Allura said. “That would be very kind of you — I know that not only I, but Coran will also greatly appreciate it.”

“And Shiro,” Lance continued. “The matcha tea I talked about came from his, er, region of earth. He practically grew up on it.”

This honest excitement for the Peimeddian drink was what finally brought a true smile to Izapi’s face, and Allura could for a moment see the person Lance had spoken so highly of. Her eyes even shone softly at the praise, and Allura could see how Lance managed to break through to her, by indulging in her culture, which she held very dear.

“You did not come here only for a good drink, however,” she pointed out gently.

“Ah, yes, actual business,” Lance commented, and leaned back in his seat. Allura simply took another sip of the bellimi; they had agreed that Lance would take the lead in this after all, and she was to provide backup. “You know, we have a saying back where I come from, it goes ‘it takes a village, not a …batman’. Well it was kind of a movie slogan, but what it meant is that the strength of a whole community will always be greater than that of one individual.” He sat up straighter again, and turned to Izapi fully. “I’ll be frank. For all that Voltron is powerful — and I mean it _is_ , like it’s an ancient magical, sentient, sci fi mech — but for all that, Voltron alone can’t stop the terror of the Galra Empire. We have fought Zarkon head on twice, once with just Voltron, and another with the help of our current allies, and I mean, there was a clear difference between both times. The first time it was because Zarkon had Allura here captured and it was just a simple rescue mission, but one we barely escaped from. The other time we managed to put Zarkon in a coma for our efforts, and that was with the help of the Balmerans, Olkari and Blade of Marmora alone.

“I truly believe that more allies we can actually end Zarkon’s reign once and for all, and prevent what happened to Altea to happen to other planets as well. And that includes Pei and Meioh. I mean, Dios, Izapi, I know this is depressing, but do you _really think_ that the Galra Empire will leave the Usiiga Cluster alone forever? They’re extracting the life essence from planets to fuel their war and conquering, and sooner or later they will have more to win than to lose, fighting you, regardless of whatever you will throw at them. And then music and bellimi aren’t the only things that will be lost.”

Allura was thoroughly impressed by Lance’s speech. No, more than that. She was proud of him — of his capabilities.

“I understand your sentiment, Lance,” Izapi said, looking down at the drink in her hands. “I did not really expect such a strong argument from you, if I am perfectly honest. But I at least know you well enough to be able to tell that the words you speak are yours and that you do believe in them.” She looked back up at him. “We consider it crude, you know, to bluntly state your business. It implies that you are not mature enough to understand social cues and perhaps not the most intellectual creature. But I guess it is also an easy way to exclude people we deem intolerable for one reason or another.” She smiled a bit sadly. “It usually takes a while for my people to take action, and although this system has its shortcomings, I still find it useful. It encourages careful thought and prevents irrational actions for actions sake. However,” she paused, her eyes wavering once more. “However, your point still rings true — and my culture, my people, we will too parish if we do not act soon enough. The efforts to sustain our way of live has already chipped away from it, and knowledge of arts which you possess is rare among us for the first time in deca-phoebs. And I will rather give up freely our traditions of politics for the sake of what is left, rather than have one part devour the rest.”

Allura felt herself stiffen, without even meaning to. Was Izapi saying what she thought she was saying? _I think she is_ , Allura told herself, and it was only all those years of regal training that prevented her from interrupting Izapi, who obviously still was not done; she would not make ruin of this because of her excitement.

“I will converse with Tathna, and convince our senat to join your cause — but you must know that the Usiiga Cluster will only join you if all planets unanimously agree to it. It is one of the few laws we have between us and holds our coalition together.”

“Would you be able to help us convince them?” Lance asked, and though he sounded very happy, he was visibly restraining himself.

“Dear Paladin, I’m sure you will have no problem on your own. Though I may perhaps be of an assistance in your research. You told me that the castle you fly is over 10 000 deca-phoebs old, yes?”

“Yeah, it was actually Coran’s grandfather who constructed it back then,” Lance told her.

“And Coran is your fellow Altean and adviser?”

“Yes,” Allura told her. “He and I were frozen in the castle for all those years while the last part of the first war was waged against Zarkon. My father hid the castle away on a distant planet as well as the lions throughout the galaxies, and it was only when Lance and the other Paladins arrived that we woke again.”

She had the decency to look appropriately horrified.

“And the first thing you did was insult my ears, isn’t that right princess?” Lance laughed lightly.

“Well,” Allura huffed and crossed her arms, “you really cannot blame me too much for what I said when came out of there. I thought you were some soldier trying to play yourself off as a fellow Altean, but missing part of the costume.”

“So you weren’t just speaking from the heart and insulting my good looks, ey?”

Izapi let out a soft laugh, and Allura was right behind her when she realised exactly what Lance had done once more — defusing the situation before it went out of hand. For all intents and purposes, the three of them were really just having a pleasant drink together, swapping stories, especially when Izapi voluntarily shared one of her own (apparently she had a brother), while simultaneously talking about the fate of the universe. In a bizarre way, Allura could see the charm in the Peimeddian way of politics, if this was what it was; friendly, low-key chats that sensibly talked through the issues one at a time, jokes and stories mixed in between. And did they talk. For Izapi was not done with them — but Allura found it much easier to talk to her and try to answer all her questions and worries now that she knew that they were on the same side, and it was clear that it was more an issue of semantics and peculiarities, rather than a question of yes or no. But for all of that, the meeting still drew itself out to last long into the night. Though, it had still definitely been worth it, for the best, regardless of how tired Allura is feeling once they take their leave. Besides the time spent, the only evidence of their talk is the now dirty mugs which they drank from, and the empty pot.

“I am sorry for letting you do all of the hard work,” Allura told Lance once they had reached and castle, and she knew for certain that they wouldn’t be overheard. After vargas of talking, she didn’t want to watch her words all that much. Yet the only reason they had made any progress at all was because of Lance, and she was keenly aware of that, and she hoped he realised that.

“What are you talking about?” Lance had paused in the middle of his movement and his eyes all but bore into her, like he was daring her to make a move. It was a strange look to receive and she did not fully understand why he looked so on the offence all the sudden, but regardless, she felt like she should at least try to explain herself. He deserved that much after the feat he just pulled.

“This meeting would have gone horribly wrong without you — nay, it wouldn’t even have taken place at all if it were not for you,” she told him. “And I get the feeling that it would actually have been better if I were not present. At the same time it’s frustrating to know that I am incapable of assisting in this part of the negotiations, even though I just want to do my part.”

“Your part?” he sounded more miffed now than anything.

“I mean to say that I feel it unfair to put this burden on you, while I can’t assist you,” she tried explaining, and for a moment a look of recognition crossed Lance’s face and she thought he had understood her, but then he went back to that offensive look again.

“You feel like you’re not doing enough for the team? Helping Voltron’s cause or whatever?” His voice was far too light for the look on his face.

“I just wish I could do more,” she said, and it was like she had finally struck a chord because in the next moment, Lance all but exploded on her.

“ _Oh my God, Allura,_ what the hell are you talking about?!” he shouted at her. “You’ve given more than anyone — like —” he gesticulated wildly like waving his arms would prove his point, “— you’ve offered up your life force or quintessence or whatever it’s called not once but like _three times_ ; you let yourself get captured so Shiro could escape; you erased your dad’s AI; _you skydived out of a space ship surrounded by enemy fire!_ ” he finished off with like somehow that was he found most impressive. “And you just keep on going and looking fabulous while going it — sometimes I wonder what kind of moisturizer you use ‘cause _damn gurl_. You just don’t quit, and it makes me feel like shit because I can’t pull off half of the things you do — and I just know that whatever weird negotiation tactics magic you think I have you’ll soon figure out and end up perfecting, just like everything you do, Allura. I mean honestly, you needa give yourself a goddamn break.

“We,” suddenly he broke off, his arms falling to his sides as he started off to somewhere beyond her. “We’re a team. Which means that we’ll work best when we complement each other, and work together. That’s what teamwork is all about — covering each other’s bases. So you might not know how to do this right now, but it doesn’t matter ‘cause… because I do. And at the same time there’s so much stuff and you’re way better at than I, and that’s fine, because we’re working together, not against each other. You get what I’m saying?” he asked, finally looking at her once more. There was something almost defeated in his eyes, and Allura felt that what she was missing was what put that look on Lance’s face. Yet at the same time, she really found comfort in his words, for she knew that they were from the heart, and in a way, it was exhilarating hearing someone talk about you like Lance just had.

“Thank you, then,” she answered, stepping forward. She did not really know why, but it felt right to take his hand in hers right then, and squeeze it gently. “Thank you for being my teammate.”

Naturally, Lance flushed in response, and replied with an “Anything for you, Princess,” though it felt more like a time honoured tradition at this point, rather than actual flirting. Allura felt like somewhat of an expert in that particular side of Lance’s personality at this point.

“I think I get you, though,” he told her, looking down at his hands, his whole posture meek all a sudden. “Feeling useless — like you’re not pulling your weight.”

“What do you have to feel like that over?” she had to know, but the way he scoffed at her it looked like he thought it obvious.

“Come on, Allura, apart from this now and being the one to pilot Blue in the first place, what have I done that anyone else on the team couldn’t just as easily?”

Perhaps it was the plain way he put it, like he was just talking about facts that made Allura have such a visceral reaction. What she had felt herself in her own uselessness was what Lance was also experiencing, though he seemed so much further down that dreaded path.

“What you said to me,” she started telling him, “about my feats. I could do the same for you. Excluding your continuing impressive works in these negotiations like you said, you are a most worthy Paladin, Lance. You have a persistence and an ability to see the bigger picture, and how you are able to keep a level head under pressure. Not to mention, that when you really focus, like you do when you’re going to take a shot, I’m always impressed with the level of precision you’re able to execute.

“The Blue Lion,” she started saying, and Lance visibly winced, “she is welcoming, friendly, but sturdy and loyal. Like you. Like me, I think. Hope. But when you accepted Keith as the head of Voltron, I know you didn’t mean to, but I believe you changed the dynamics in such a way that she couldn’t allow you to fly her no longer — for while Shiro was the head, Keith was his right hand, you are Keith’s. And so Blue had to close herself off to you, while Red took you right away because you had already proven your worth for her. And I distinctly remember Keith telling us how he had to fight for her approval.” She paused then, and while Lance still was not looking at her, he was abnormally still, his eyes focused on one single point, so she knew he was listening. “In the end, after getting to know Blue I’ve come to the realisation that while I wished to fly Black back then I was not ready for it — but someday I might, for the lions are not as rigid when it comes to picking their paladins as I originally thought.”

Finally he looked up at her. “You’re saying I can have Blue back at some point?”

“I’m entertaining the possibility.”

“You’re also saying that you can replace me if Black takes Shiro back and Keith gets Red back and so on, though.”

“I don’t believe it would play out like that, but rather that I would have to step down then, since the original team dynamics would be back into play. Like you said, we’re all on the same team, so we complement each other.”

“Using my own words against me, I see,” he said, though he smiled a little.

“I thought you’d listen more to yourself than anything I’d have to say,” she teased and to her delight he laughed. It was nice, she thought, to be able to go back and forth between serious conversations and more light hearted banter. Lance made such things so easy. Though, she came to realise, they were rather alike in the way they much rather saw others achievements and not their own. But if she could count on Lance to tell cheer her up like he had, then she was all but bound to return the favour. Teammates had each other’s back after all, both on and off the battlefield. Though that reminded her more of family. Not that she minded the implications of those dynamics.


	3. Messages

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously on _Burning Blue_ : Allura and Lance manages to secure an alliance with Izapi, and the two of them become closer as they talk about their statuses as paladins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not dead, I promise. I also won't give up on this fic, especially since I have so much written already. I mean, you'll have to take my word for it, but I have about 60k of this fic already sitting in a doc, awaiting editing, and it was mostly life in general that came in the way both for me and those who proof-read for me that caused the huge delay between chapters. But rest assured there is much more to come and I'm super excited to roll out new chapters!

**Chapter 3: Messages**

One (Keith) would think that now that the truth was out, the floodgates would open and everyone would know everything about Lance’s ‘mad piano skills’ about five times over by the end of the week. However, one (Keith) would be super wrong.

After the initial reveal, Lance didn’t mention the whole thing even _once_ , at least not as far as Keith heard. The only reference of it was an blink-and-you’ll-miss-it comment about him possibly being late for dinner after the negotiations because of the ‘meeting’ Lance had with the diplomat. He didn’t even hint that it could be a date or anything! For all Keith knew, the two of them were gonna go to church and talk about Jesus for five hours straight, and swearing off flirting and dating and all the likes of it, _because that’s how little Lance talked about any of it_.

But even after the initial meetings, including the actual official one when he had brought Allura, Lance never once made a pass at the other alien, or even just talked about her all that much. Which threw Keith off even more than the piano playing did, to the honest, because he had seen Lance chat up less conventionally attractive enemies, yet this Izapi he kept at arm’s length at all times.

After a few days of nothing, Keith caved and went to Hunk’s room after hours, hoping to catch him alone.

“Hey dude, what up?” Hunk greeted him as he stepped inside.

Keith took a deep breath. “I know I’m sticking my nose in things that I don’t have anything to do with, but I…”

“You wanna know what Lance told me about his sudden musical ability,” Hunk finished.

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“Why don’t you ask him yourself — I mean you’re really not the type to avoid conflicts,” Hunk pointed out.

“I mean, I figured that since he haven’t actually said anything it was kind of a touchy subject? And I don’t wanna throw him off by pushing too hard, so I figured you’d be the happy medium,” Keith reasoned with a shrug.

“Wow, character development seems to go around.” Hunk laughed, and Keith rolled his eyes fondly.

Hunk gestured for Keith to take a seat next to him on the bed. His room was just like Keith’s, but mirrored, though, for some reason, Keith noticed that Hunk’s bed was softer than his as he sat down and made a soft ‘floof’ sound. It made him kind of jealous, though the passing thought was completely abandoned when Hunk began to talk.

“I don’t have that much to tell you, to be honest,” Hunk admitted, scratching the back of his head apologetically. “And that’s not me having promised to keep quiet or anything, it’s just that for once Lance didn’t say all that much.”

It seemed like the out of character Lance was pretty consistent as soon as it came to this.

“I mean back at the Garrison I knew that he was a kinda music lover, like, his phone has everything from Mozart to Metallica on it, though I mostly heard him listening to his Latino pop.” Hunk shrugged. “When I asked he said he had been playing since he was little, but like I was forced to learn the recorder when I was a kid and I don’t remember a thing from that, but he just busted out two songs in a row on an alien piano thing without any preparation, so I think he really downplayed it. Then he just went off on space instruments and what he had talked with Izapi about and I gotta say it felt so weird to hear him talk in technical terms and not being able to get it — like suddenly I get how you and he feel when Pidge and I go off on something.” He looked almost bashful.

“It’s fine, we can’t all know everything, I mean at least it’s good that you have Pidge and Coran to back you up when you nerd out,” Keith said, because really, Hunk shouldn’t try to apologise for being the physics nerd that he was. Though he would deny it, Keith kind of thought of everyone who got into the Garrison as a nerd automatically since you _kind of needed to be_ with the bar set so high, what with the Garrison being Earth’s leading international space program and all. Which yes, included himself, and Lance, and Shiro, and also freaking Iverson.

“Thanks dude,” Hunk chuckled. “I get what you feel by being curious, though,” he continued. “When it happened — man I just wanted to run up and shake him and ask if he was some kind of clone or something. I mean, I still kinda do? Like, he haven’t even _mentioned_ Izapi except for when she’s there and he’s talking to her, and I mean he moaned about Allura for a solid _month_ before…” _Before Shiro disappeared_ , Keith finished off in his head.

Keith sighed. “How would we even begin to figure out if he was a clone, though?” he marvelled out loud.

“I mean, there’s a possibility it could be detected by DNA, depending on how clone-Lance would have been made. Like, I reckon he’d be some kind of syntactic cyborg made by the Galra druids, like, growing another human from scratch would take way too much time, and that’s not even getting into how they would make it look like him and have his memories and personality and stuff. And also I think they’d wanna use the clone to spy on us, like, maybe clone!Lance wouldn’t even know he’s not real and just, I don’t know, act normal only to find out that he’s betraying the people he thinks of as friends? That’s cruel, man…”

“Sounds like a dark sci fi novel…” Keith mused.

“Right?! Oh I’d be all over that, though I think it’s be a better movie plot.”

“No way, a novel would do a much better job at explaining the inner turmoil that the clone would feel and all the confusion and shit.”

“That’s why you need a good lead actor and director, Keith!” Hunk exclaimed. “Show, not tell, man!”

“I bet that if we write the screen play, we could get it produced at _one_ of the planets we go to.”

“Yeah, there’s gotta be some entertainment industry somewhere else in the universe! I refuse to believe that there aren’t space soap operas!” Hunk declared with a firey passion.

“It’s probably all galran propaganda.”

“But dude. This could totally be galran propaganda! The clone that infiltrated Voltron!”

“But then it all ends with us dead and Zarkon wins,” Keith pointed out.

“Oh, yeah. Damn.” Hunk sunk down in his seat again. But then he smiled at Keith. “You know, I think it’s real nice that you’re watching out for Lance, clone or not — and I mean I should say that I don’t really think that — we totally have the real Lance even though he pulled out a secret ace out of his sleeve the other day, and didn’t brag about it later. He’s weirdly contradictory sometimes, like loud and moving, but slow and steady when it counts. I think he doesn’t even realise that he’s doing it, really.”

“Yeah, well, he’s nice when he isn’t trying to compete with me all the time,” Keith admitted.

“Because you can’t back down from a challenge to save your life? _Literally?_ ”

Keith laughed. “I guess not.”

Hunk gave him a pat. “I’m sure you’ll figure this mystery out before I do,” he said. “But do me a favour and continue with your more… delicate investigation?”

“Don’t shoot first, ask questions later — got it.” Keith got up as Hunk laughed.

“Exactly.”

* * *

After about a day of waiting, wherein the rest of the Paladins had lounged around in the Castle — everyone afraid of going out and exploring Pei because of their still uneasy situation — word finally came back from Izapi during breakfast. She had recorded a message for Lance (and Allura) which was brought to the Castle by one of her servants.

“Dear Lance,” Izapi’s recording started with, as soon as Lance had pressed play, and while he was completely wrapped in observing the little device, Shiro looked around the room, at Allura and Coran, who both were there when the message had been delivered. “I have spoken to Tathna, and we reached the conclusion that you, and the princess too I assumed, should have a private audience with her as well as our First Warrant Officer Meitez. They are the ones now in need of convincing, and will want to sit down and look over of what Pei and Meioh can offer in terms of support for your alliance. Agreeing with your cause on an intellectual level and in practise are two different things, and I believe this will be beneficial, seeing that they have a greater insight to Peimeddian Armed Forces and Space Armada’s resources. I have set up a meeting for you already, and you are expected in three vargas. Before then, however, I would be delighted to show you around Pei. There’s much to see, and I believe I haven’t even brought up the subject of rhythmic rituals of the Hindenzklek, which I believe you would find very interesting. I will take you back in time, of course, and you will join princess Allura for your meeting. Simply inform my messenger if you wish to join me.”

The message ended, and Shiro felt a sense of dread blossom inside of him. “Why would she want to show you around like that just before a meeting?” he mused out loud before any one of them could say anything.

“The Peimeds are really proud of their culture, and I mean, since I’ve taken interest in it, she wants to share it with me,” Lance replied, shrugging where he sat.

“Wouldn’t it make more sense to do that after the meeting though, and not before, since then you won’t be as focused?”

“If the last meeting we had with Izapi herself is anything to go by, then it will probably take up the rest of the day, and she probably has better things to do than be on stand-by for me.” Without further ado Lance rose to meet the servant that was standing outside the door.

“What are you doing?” Shiro asked him as the door opened, but Lance talked over him, telling the servant that he confirmed the time with Izapi, and then turned back to have Shiro, like he was daring to say something. Shiro didn’t know what to feel. While Lance hadn’t done anything wrong per say, he completely ignored Shiro and made the decision entirely on his own. It wasn’t that Shiro didn’t trust Lance’s judgement, but they were still on thin ice when it came to the potential alliance, and Lance seemed to just ignore that in order to hang out with a friend rather than actually work and prepare for the negotiations — like he would just be able to waltz into the meeting room and improvise the whole ordeal. This was not a game, and he needed Lance to see that. But before he could even say anything on the matter, Lance was talking to Coran, whisking the Altean away to pick an outfit of all things.

Shiro’s frustration must have been plain on his face, because he noticed Allura giving him a concerned look.

“I just wished he would take this more seriously,” Shiro explained, in lieu of having her asking him.

“He is, in his own way,” Allura argued, but Shiro wasn’t having it.

“I’m concerned where that way will lead, though. Lance is not experienced in this; am I supposed to let him run into situations that will possibly ruin the whole alliance because he just so happens to say the wrong thing or offend the wrong person? Negotiations are sensitive, but he’s treating it like a dress-up game.”

“I think Lance knows far more than he lets on,” Allura told him. “He gets underestimated easily — know I did just that in the beginning, but the more I got to know him I noticed that I had been wrong to do so. You weren’t there, Shiro, when we had that meeting with Izapi. Lance was brilliant — he’s the only reason we have a single ally in this part of the galaxy.”

“But he bonded with her over music, not politics and now he’s about to face two strangers rather than a friend,” Shiro pointed out.

“Not alone, I will also be there, and they will be strangers to me as well.”

“You told us yourself that Alteans were a species that were excellent diplomats, and you have grown up in an environment where you’ve learnt how to negotiate, but Lance have not.”

Allura sighed, sinking back into her seat. “I understand how you feel, Shiro,” she confessed to him. “But I think it would do more harm than good to try to change things now. And besides, Lance haven’t messed up any more than I or anyone else has. I guess what I’m trying to say is that you maybe need to trust him more, Shiro,” Allura suggested gently.

It was obvious where she really stood on this issue, he saw that now, and he didn’t want to spend time trying to convince Allura to change her position — he knew how stubborn she could be. Instead he left the room soon thereafter, and sought up Keith, since he didn’t have anything better to do. He found the other paladin on the on deck, and he turned when he heard Shiro enter.

“Perfect timing,” he said, “I got a notice that the Blade of Marmora is try’na contact us.”

“What would they want?” Shiro asked out loud. They had nothing planned; after the attack on Zarkon’s central command the two teams had split again — Voltron to liberate planets, find Shiro himself and then new allies, and the Blade of Marmora to… Shiro honestly didn’t know what the Blade were up to.

“Let’s find out,” Keith said and then accepted the call without further ado.

Kolivan appeared on the screen, looking as stale as ever. “I see you found your missing paladin,” he said, in lieu of a greeting.

“Yes,” Keith cast another look at Shiro before continuing with a far too casual, “What’s up?” to Kolivan. It was at times like these that Shiro remembered just what a teenager Keith still was.

Still, Kolivan appeared unbothered. “I wanted to put forth a proposition to you — Voltron as a whole but also you in particular, Keith,” he said. “Since you are there bearer of one of our blades you are by definition part of the Blade of Marmora, and I think it only fitting that you would be so in practise to.”

“You wanna train me?” Keith asked, bemused.

“Want to enroll. You are in no need of training, but if you could join our missions from time to time, I believe it would be beneficial for both our organisation as well as Voltron since it would close the gap between us, and bring you closer to your Galra heritage, Keith.”

“What kind of missions are we talking about here?” Shiro spoke up for the first time, crossing his arms as the eyed Kolivan with caution.

“I am not at liberty to speak for _every_ mission, but if you are willing, there is one planed soon in which your presence would be appreciated. It’s a stealth mission, collecting data,” Kolivan said to Keith directly. There was a joke in there somewhere about Keith being as stealthy as a grenade launcher, but Shiro refrained from pointing it out.

“How soon is soon?” Keith asked.

“I would need your confirmation in two vargas, taking all preparations and transport into account,” was Kolivan’s non-answer, but it was good enough.

“I’ll contact you then, regardless of my answer,” Keith said, and with a quick nod from Kolivan, the connection cut.

“What do you think, Shiro?” Keith turned towards him, his facial expression guarded, like he was nervous as to what Shiro would say. It made him feel bad that Keith would look at him like that, but at the same time he wasn’t really sure to fix it. But he knew at least that not being forward with Keith would only make their already tense air between them unravel even more.

“Hard to say,” Shiro said, dragging his real hand across his face. “It could definitely be a learning experience for you, and who knows what the Blade of Marmora would be able to offer, the closer we as a team get to know them and their inner workings. I mean, trade-offs like this strengthens relationships with allies, after all. But it will take you away from Voltron, and no one can say when we might need you.”

“We’re just sitting here, though,” Keith pointed out, his whole body and voice screaming of frustration as he crossed his arms defensibly. “I get that these allies are important, but honestly, _all_ of us don’t need to be here _all_ the time, just sitting duck while Lance and Allura make actual progress. I mean Lotor is still out there, and who knows what he’s cooking.”

“I get that this is frustrating for you, but at the same time you are the team leader now,” Shiro told him. “I don’t wanna play devil’s advocate here, but I think it’s important that you think about all sides before you make your decision. You are part of Voltron and not the Blade, after all.”

“Allura still around?” Keith asked, sidestepping the issue.

“In the dining hall last I saw her,” he said, and Keith turned to leave. “How come?” he called out after him.

“She might have something good to say,” Keith threw over his shoulder, and then Shiro was left along on the bridge. Only the gentle hum of the monitors coupled with his own breathing was all the sound that could be heard, from arguably one of the most action-filled rooms in the entire castle. All around him, Shiro saw memories of battles, from planning them to execution. He remembered vividly as he stood by the middle seat and guided the team through situation after situation, being the leader.

Now, that was Keith’s job. He didn’t know what frustrated him more — his own inability to step down or Keith lack of willingness to step it up. Most likely I was a little bit of both, Shiro figured. Still, understanding it didn’t make it less annoying.

He also did not understand the Black lion’s utter rejection of him. After the moment she had helped Keith to find him, she had completely shut him out. He hadn’t made his way back to her after the first try because to feel her lifeless under his fingers when she had literally taken his mind to other dimensions before felt eerie and like a gut punch at the same time. He couldn’t understand why it happened. He knew that Blue had rejected Lance as well, so it might have something to do with that, but as far as Shiro had been told, Blue didn’t let Lance past her barrier any more. All the while, Keith could get close to both Black and Red, though he appeared to not have tried to pilot Red after Lance had taken her over. This whole business was giving Shiro a splitting headache the more he thought of it he felt like he was missing something vital that would make sense of it all. He wouldn’t find any answers at the bridge however, and besides, he had more pressing matters to attend — like damage control for when Keith inevitably joined the Blade of Marmora this afternoon.

* * *

“I think it would be great,” he heard Allura tell Keith as he followed him back to the dining hall. “Indeed these negotiations don’t seem to demand more than Lance and myself at the moment, so it good that you can use your time to do something productive. Besides, I imagine you being restless staying in the castle training all day.”

Keith chuckled at Allura’s accurate assumption, where he sat on the table like the teenager he was. “I guess you could say that,” he said. “What are you gonna do for today anyway?”

Shiro hangs back as Allura explains Lance’s message and their meeting with the second diplomat this afternoon.

“Sounds like you have things under control then,” Keith said afterwards, nodding.

“Yes. I don’t see a problem with you joining the Blade for the rest of the day. I imagine Lance and I will find out when there’s a function that requires all paladins. But I hope you’re still careful when you go, Keith,” she told him more sternly. “You’re an important part of this team.”

Keith gave her a sad smile for what Shiro could see from the door. There was something troublesome about that, but Shiro couldn’t put his finger on it. Besides, it didn’t matter all that much in the long run, seeing how there was so much more going on that required Shiro’s attention.


	4. Coffee, Cocoa & Coke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Previously on Burning Blue:_ Keith and Hunk talk a bit about Lance and his hidden talents, and later Keith gets called in by the Blade of Marmora. Shiro is in general weary of both Lance and Keith's respective attitudes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _I LIIIIVE_. dAMN it was long since I updated this thing; I'm sorry guys, life happened.  
>  I will be honest and admit that I can't really promise a consistent upload schedule. Even though I've worked a lot on this fic (in fact I have around 60k+ written), my writing is dispersed throughout the time line I've set up. I'm also taking a masters right now and _ho boi_ is there a lot to read ;A; Still, I'll try working on this when I get the time and have the energy, and I hope you'll all bare with me  <3

**Chapter 4: Coffee, Cocoa & Coke**

 

Izapi had arranged for Allura and Lance to meet the two other aliens on the Peimeddian’s second planet: Meioh. They had to take a little shuttle out to it, and wear their paladin armour because of the small planets toxic atmosphere. The planet itself was rocky and barren, and Allura could spot several mines from their shuttle trip over the surface, as well as some huge craters, and a large facility that they were heading towards.

Lance parked the shuttle after the instructions given, and together they walked to the facility where they were met by two Peimeds, Tathna and Officer Meitez presumably.

“Greetings,” the smaller one of them said. She was on the shorter side as her species went, and she had a soft-spoken voice. “I am Tathna, and this is Meitez.” She gestured to the other. Meitez had broad shoulders and a serious air around him that reminded Allura of Kolivan, though he showed much more expression as he and Tathna both tipped their heads in sync and he gave them an easy smile, which seemed a bit more genuine than his colleague’s soft politeness.

“Nice to meet you both,” Lance replied, “I’m Lance and this is Princess Allura.”

Tathna gestured for them to follow, and lead them inside the facility.

“So what is it that you do on this planet?” Lance asked Officer Meitez as they walked.

Meitez started to explain to both of them how they used this second planet to mine for metals and minerals, and also as a base for their scientific division of their military. The atmosphere of the planet was toxic which made it barren of most life and therefore uninhabitable outside of the Peimeddian structures, within which you could breathe freely.

“A lot of the time, we test out new weapons and other equipment such as spacecrafts here, where it won’t harm anyone,” Meitez told them.

Tathna and Meitez showed them around the entire complex, with Meitez explaining most of it, though to Allura it seemed more like boasting of their military might more than anything. Lance’s subtle eyeroll as Meitez waxed poetic about one of their spacecrafts told her that he shared her sentiment. Yet Lance kept insisting on getting Meitez to talk, or brag essentially, by asking questions of different equipment, training regiments and fight strategies, all which Meitez were happy to answer, until Tathna implied that he was giving too much away, and they swiftly moved on with the tour. Allura watched as Tethna visibly bothered as the tour continued. She was obviously apprehensive to how Lance was playing to Meitez’ prideful sensibilities.

Soon, the four of them found themselves sitting around a table, covered in food and drinks, though it was perhaps a bit more of a formal gathering than what she and Lance had experienced in Izapi’s office.

“As you now have witnessed, the Peimeddian armada is one of our people’s greatest accomplishments,” Tathna spoke in a brisk tone, seemingly to stop Meitez from getting into another winded declaration of the valour of his command. When Lance didn’t immediately respond, Allura took it as a cue for her to talk.

“It is indeed.” She nodded in agreement. “Which is why Voltron would find you as a most precious ally.”

Tathna scoffed at her. “Do not make such daring assumptions, Princess, it is you who are reliant on our military prowess and not the other way around.”

“Wouldn’t that put you in a position of power at the negotiation table, then?” Allura gently prompted.

“And any good alliance comes out of a mutually beneficial relationship,” Lance continued with a smirk thrown Meitez way. Allura wished that she had a way to subtly elbow him for flirting during negotiations, but alas there was none.

“Namely the threat of the Galra,” she instead continued.

“Did our tour not convince you that we are well equipped to handle the Galra?” Meitez spoke up, his voice much more gentle.

“Dude, your tour was great, don’t get me wrong,” Lance reassured him. “But knowing what Voltron know, it will take more than any one single army to defeat the empire. Even though that is Voltron’s goal. Ultimately, we wish to protect the rest of the universe.” He paused. “It’s completely understandable that the Peimeds want to focus on your defence and not engage with the Galra until they come knocking on your door—and believe me, sooner or later they _will_ come knocking. But for us, it isn’t a luxury we can afford. Allura’s planet and her people were destroyed by Zarkon, while my planet is only spared for the moment because it has no resources that will benefit the empire—for now. And I cannot let my planet stand there defenceless when the Galra change their mind and I have to watch idly as my home meets the same faith as Allura’s.”

Meitez and Tathna sat completely still for a moment, before Meitez drew a deep sigh.

“Izapi warned us that you had a way with words, but to be frank, this was not what I had anticipated,” he noted sullenly, and casted his eyes towards Tathna. “What do you say to all of that, Miss Diplomat?” he asked her as he waved in Lance’s general direction.

She too sighed and looked at them begrudgingly. “I am impressed how the two of you have managed to make sincerity into a weapon,” she told them. “Though I am still doubtful. But I also recognise that you would not have fought the Galra for so long without gaining some insight to their ways. In that sense you are right. They will come, sooner or later.”

They had won, Allura realised as Tathna looked down and sipped her drink. They had managed to convince the Peimeddians to join them. The victory echoed through her with the vibration of a lion’s engine.

But then Tathna started to ask about the specific calibre of their ion canon and such, which Allura was far better equipped to answer, and so she moved into the motions of negotiating once more.

* * *

Lance stepped into the lounge where Keith and Hunk and been sitting, minding their own business (Hunk: fiddling with some Altean trinket; Keith: sharpening his blade), his grin wide.

“So I take it the negotiations went well?” Hunk inquired.

“Boy did it!” Lance boomed as he dropped down on the couch next to Hunk with a big _‘thump’_ and Keith spent a moment marvelling over how a body so lean could make such noise on impact. Meanwhile, Lance continued to relay what had happened. “I mean nothing is final yet — we still need to go through more meetings, and Izapi and Tathna needa convince their people, details needs to be ironed out and stuff and it will probably be suuuuper boring, but I guess it’s for a good cause,” Lance complained as he draped himself over Hunk in a very… Lance-y manner.

“You know what I miss from Earth?” Lance continued after a moment of silence.

“What?” Keith prompted when Hunk said nothing; partly because he was curious, but mostly because he was bored.

“Coffee. And not that horrid Starbucks crap — I’m talking good, wholesome, Cuban coffee.”

“What’s so special about Cuban coffee?” Keith asked.

“Oh man, Keith, dude,” Lance moaned sitting up and facing him fully, like he was about to have a serious conversation. About coffee. “Café Cubano is like really dark espresso, but you also put demerara sugar right in the pitcher, so when it cooks the sucrose will hydrolyse because of the heat, and it will become sweet coffee goodness.” It was somewhat weird to hear Lance speak in technical terms, but then again, if anyone would know the science of coffee, it would be him seeing how he seemed like the kind of person who would be addicted to it. Besides, Keith reminded himself, they had all gotten into the Garrison, regardless of Lance first being a cargo pilot, it was still no easy feat, an while Pidge and Hunk were both brilliant beyond compare, Keith had caught himself thinking of Lance as stupid in comparison. Which just wasn’t true — Keith did not hold a candle to Pidge and Hunk either.

“Oh,” Hunk shimmed into the conversation. “I’d love a hot cocoa, though! Like, with whipped cream, and maybe some chopped up nuts sprinkled on top of it, or a caramel swirl. Or both!”

“God Hunk, nuts, would totally ruin the good drink,” Lance protested.

“Are you nuts?” They both giggled at the horrible pun. “No but seriously, it would totally add some crunchy goodness to an already solid drink.”

“Dude I totally support the caramel and the whipped cream, I mean that’s genius, but!” Lance gestured widely. “But! You don’t want crunch that will either make you choke or chew when you’re drinking! That’s why the olives come with a toothpick on martinis and orange slices are perched on the side of glasses, bro! So you can easily pick them up and eat them.”

“I don’t know, since they will be chopped up I don’t think it be so much of a choking hazard. What do you think, Keith?” Hunk, and in fact also Lance both pinned their eyes on Keith, like he held the pivotal position in this debate. About nuts in coco.

“Don’t coffee shops usually have syrups for that kind of thing?” he asked, mostly because he was actually uncertain.

“Of course! Hunk! Hazelnut syrup! That’s the answer.” The brightness of Lance’s smile was almost blinding; it was obnoxious. Yeah, that’s why Keith felt funny. Lance was being obnoxious.

“Also you kinda get the caramel goodness in that I think — or you can have both syrups, or something,” Hunk continued the train of thought, looking like he was trying to figure out how to do it in their space kitchen. “Do you think the Peimeds have some equivalent to coffee and cocoa, though? Because all this talk haven’t helped my cravings, man.”

“Oh God, same. I’ll ask around,” Lance promised solemnly, before turning his gaze back to Keith. It, too, was obnoxious. Yeah, that’s what it was, and nothing else at all. “How ‘bout you, dude?” he asked, and even reached one of his long legs across the space in between them to poke Keith with his foot, like Keith _wasn’t_ paying attention to him. Really, how could he miss Lance?

“What about me?”

“What kind of earthly beverage are you longing for, duh,” Lance finished in a snotty, but joking voice.

Keith crossed his arms and actually gave it some thought before he said anything. “I just want a goddamn coke,” he concluded. “Don’t care if it’s cola or pepsi or some off-brand, cheap-ass shit — I just want a freaking coke.”

The moan that Lance let out as he slumped back into his seat did something to Keith’s insides that he’d rather not think about. “It’s a testament to how long we’ve been away from earth that I totally feel your sentiment, dude. Coooooke,” Lance moaned again. Sweet Jesus, how did you make him stop?

“Hey, I know how to make coke!” Hunk declared, which did shut Lance up, but now Keith was also invested. “I’d need some things, and I don’t really know if —”

“I will personally get you a fucking moon if you’re not shitting me right now,” Keith insisted.

“A bit overdramatic but yes, Hunk, bro, tell me what you need and I’ll make some excuse to have a shopping trip with Izapi or something,” Lance promised.

“Oh dude that would be great! I’ll have to talk to like Coran so we can compare molecular structures and stuff so we get the equivalent of all the ingredients, but that shouldn’t be too hard.”

“And I’m sure that Izapi would love to help us — actually I think she’d be kinda pleased to see if Pei can provide with all the ingredients because then she can have physical proof that they’re rather prosperous, like that was even in doubt to begin with — but hey let’s not talk bad about aliens and their customs.”

“Wouldn’t you be able to find stuff for coffee and cocoa as well then?” Keith asked.

“We kinda already have coffee?” Hunk said, though Lance made a ‘pfff!’ sound right next to him, and waved in dismissal. “Yeah, it didn’t suit his royal majesty over here, but it smells like coffee and does have caffeine in it, though it’s purple?” Hunk shrugged. “Pidge said it’s fine.”

“Pidge wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between a caffé latte and a cappuccino, that’s how much she cares about her heritage,” Lance sassed, probably taking the opportunity since Pidge wasn’t there to out-wit him.

“What is the difference exactly?” Hunk asked. Apparently Keith was right to assume that Lance was the coffee expert of the team.

“It’s how much milk you add and also how much you steam it,” Lance told them right away. “Also cappuccinos are served in a mug, while lattes are usually in a tall glass.”

“But the last part is just aesthetics,” Keith argued. “It’s the taste that matters.”

“You drink with your eyes too, Keith!” Lance declared. “You wouldn’t serve a Cosmopolitan in anything other than an oversized martini glass because that’s what it looks like, dude.”

“It’s true that aesthetics is very important in a professional kitchen, because even though something tastes good, it will taste even better if it has a nice presentation.” Hunk agreed, which earned him a high five from Lance. These two were ridiculous.

“You’re ridiculous,” Keith told them.

“Oh my god, dude, you cannot argue that presentation isn’t important,” Lance said, teasingly but there was a sudden hint of defiance in his tone, Keith noted. “Like, say, attending negotiations in armour and casual clothes sends two very different messages just by what you’re wearing.”

“Are you saying that’s why you spent a day digging through Coran’s wardrobe?” Keith asked.

“Well yeah! Allura and I needed to match, and also, Coran has a really good sense of style when he’s not trying to be a space pirate.”

Keith had to suppress a snicker, thinking back to the clothes Coran had forced them into when they had gone to the mall; Hunk was not as fruitful in his efforts.

“Man, that was so hilarious, like, how we escaped on Kaltenecker and everything,” he said dreamingly.

“Also the best cow in the universe — she gave us milkshakes back!” Lance waved his fist in the air, like he had won something. “Still can’t believe that Pidge didn’t figure out how to plug in the ATARI, though, like, how hard is it to connect to LCA cables?”

“Oh I didn’t know you still hadn’t fixed that,” Hunk said. “I thought the software was corrupted or something and that’s why weren’t playing. Because I could make a LCA port. I think.”

“ _Hunk_. First coke and now this? Will you marry me?” Lance asked, taking Hunk by his shoulders and looking him in the eye. It was kind of intimidating, the level of ferocity Lance was exhuming, but Hunk seemed to go along with it.

“If we’re both single by 30,” he said, sounding dead serious.

“Deal. Keith!” Lance pointed at him. “You are our witness! This is a sacred contract between men!”

“I thought you weren’t into guys?” Keith was honestly so confused right now.

“Hunk is not some _guy_ , I mean, his name does not lie — look at him!” Lance flailed his hands around Hunk, who looked bashful at the complement. “But for your information bisexuality is a thing and I fulfil the requirements to identify with said thing.”

This was news to Keith. Not that he was sure why these news mattered, like, at all — but Keith had only seen Lance flirt with _girls_. Or oh, sorry, ‘ladies’ as Lance liked to catcall them. Had Keith just missed that Lance liked boys as well? If he was honest he usually did tune Lance out because he figured that nothing new would ever come out of that mouth, and it had only been lately that he had started to pay more attention to him in general, and not just when Lance made it impossible to ignore him, but that didn’t make Keith oblivious did it?

“Is that a problem?” It was Hunk who asked it, slowly, not unkindly, but still a bit guarded. Keith’s face must have done something again.

“I’m gay so no?”

“Oh my God,” Lance said, and it was his turn to look surprised. “How. Your fashion sense is awful. Actually, nevermind, this makes perfect sense,” he said, and it was like watching Lance’s thought process as a live stream. “You’re an asian-american-alien gay guy — I swear to god, you have to one-up me in everything don’t you?”

“Is my life a joke to you?” Also he forgot orphan, delinquent, (kind of) college drop-out, but Keith didn’t feel like mentioning that.

“No, this is great — this feels like a set-up to a sitcom or something,” Lance said. “Queers in space!”

“It could totally be an anime,” Hunk said. “In fact I bet there’s an anime already.”

“But that’s probably all girls, though, or like some harem show. I don’t want my life to be a harem show, Hunk, those suck!”

“Who’s harem would it even be?” Hunk asked, and Lance did not hesitate a second before he said:

“Allura’s. I mean. I take it back. I have nothing against being in Allura’s harem.”

“Didn’t we just establish that I would, though?” Keith was honestly getting a whiplash from his conversation.

“Shiro’s harem then,” Lance amended.

“That’s worse!”

“You’re gay and you can’t admit that Shiro is freaking dreamy?” Lance said quizzically. “I call bull.”

“He’s like a brother to me! Why, do you wanna date Shiro now?!” Keith shouted back.

“If he made the first move I wouldn’t stop him. Hunk! You’re straight. You tell me if you’d date Shiro.”

“I mean he is objectively really attractive and also very nice and would maybe be okay with an ace-kind of romance so yeah?” Hunk said.

“I can’t believe you both. I’m leaving this conversation. _Physically_ ,” Keith said, rising from his seat.

“No don’t go I was just messing with you!” Lance pleaded for some reason but Keith was emotionally drained and he felt that if he stayed any longer he would — god forbid — start opening up to them and say something he might regret.

Also, Lance was into guys, and he felt that he needed time alone to process that. Why he needed that, he rather not think about.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to come shout at me on [tumblr](http://wednesdaythunder.tumblr.com/) or [twitter](https://twitter.com/WednesdayKaitou)


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